This year might not be an Olympic or World Cup year, but there’s still plenty on the horizon for sports fans and marketers.
Different sports and sporting events draw different types of fans, so marketers might consider targeting within more niche communities that each event is likely to attract, according to research from Sports Innovation Lab.
Here are some of the fan profiles, as well as key dates in Q1, for marketers to keep in mind.
College crowd: The college football bowls are already underway, leading up to the College Football Playoff national championship on Jan. 20, and Sports Innovation Lab suggests that brands in categories like health and wellness, financial and tax services, and home improvement are well-suited to take advantage of the end of the college football season. College sports fans, for instance, are twice as likely as the general public to purchase workout classes, per the report.
The communities Sports Innovation Lab outlined for college bowl games include:
- “Health and wellness warriors,” who spend on products and services like fitness trackers, meditation apps, and supplements to enhance physical and mental fitness;
- “Boutique fitness fanatics,” who prefer luxury fitness experiences like F45 and Orangetheory;
- And “home improvement DIY-ers,” who are shopping at stores like Home Depot and Lowe’s to spruce up their spaces this year.
Super charge: The Super Bowl kicks off in New Orleans less than a month after the CFP national championship, which could have some sports fans feeling spendy. Last year, sports fans spent 12% more at electronics stores during the month of the game than they did the month prior, according to Sports Innovation Lab’s data cloud, which encompasses more than 250 million adults and more than 7,500 brands and merchants.
- Beyond that, it’s also the season for sports betting. Working professionals spent $215 more gambling online than NFL fans in the weeks leading up to last year’s Super Bowl, per the report. “High-value sports bettors,” therefore, could be a community of interest for Super Bowl advertisers.
- The report also suggests “concert and festival-goers” and “home chefs” could be prime audiences to target during the Super Bowl.
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On your mark: Auto racing seasons quickly follow the Super Bowl, with Nascar’s Daytona 500 taking place Feb. 16 and F1’s Australian Grand Prix on March 16. “There are
lots of powerful new opportunities here for brands,” according to the report, especially those that pay attention to:
- The cycling community, which, per Sports Innovation Lab, is 5.5x more likely than the general public to spend money on major sporting events;
- Outdoor enthusiasts, who are twice as likely to be racing fans;
- Racing fans, who spend not only with Nascar and F1 but also with other racing merchants like ticket platforms and DTC brands;
- And concert and festival-goers, who “love to spend on live entertainment where people go to see and be seen,” per the report.
Go mad: There’s a lot going on in the US sports landscape in March, including NBA and NWSL games, but college basketball dominates even those major pro leagues for several weeks every spring. The March Madness action kicks off with Selection Sunday on March 16. The men’s Final Four games are April 5 and 7, and the women’s Final Four games are April 4 and 6.
- The audience for NCAA women’s basketball skews male, per Sports Innovation Lab, which also found that the average women’s college basketball fan spends 3x more on TV subscriptions with live sports per year than the average men’s college basketball fan.
- College sports fans, women’s sports fans, and both luxury and budget travelers are groups advertisers might want to reach out to during the tournament, according to the report.